The fight of his life

05/28/12 Portland, Ore.

Once a vigorous hockey player and builder of timber-frame houses, Colton Allen, 32, of Talent, is now confined to a wheelchair, fighting ALS for the past four years.

Colton and his wife, Tiffany, a nursing student and research assistant in Oregon Health & Science University's program at Southern Oregon University, used to enjoy long trips and hikes in the mountains — but no more. Now they trek around the block, "Tiff" on her bike, 3-year-old Etta on her trike and Colton in his bulky, $28,000 wheelchair, which has all the powered features that will see him through the end of his life, expected three to five years after diagnosis.